Lebron James To Lakers

In a stunning defeat to Cleaveland, Lebron James reportedly signed 153.3 million dollars to play 4 years with the LA Lakers. Will his health equal his wealth? Is it a gamble or a slam dunk? Is it because of Lebron inability to finish... in the finals? What's his obsession with 23?

All these answers an more in what's bound to be another thrilling adventure in the next exciting season of the NBA.

140 Million Dollars to the wind

Watch carefully, with one sentence - you can actually see 140 million dollars blow away.

Sure, Governor Moonbeam helped pass the collective bargaining bill that created public employee unions that have contributed to the bankrupting of the State of California... but this is about positive advertising, and how nice it was to be in California 30 years ago... before Meg Whitman lived there.

Seems to be working: Brown Opens Up Lead in California.

Mormons Guilty on 13 Counts of Astroturfing

Two years after the Mormon Church poured millions into Prop 8, California Ethics Commission finds them guilty of 13 counts of campaign fraud: fines them a whopping $5538. That'll show 'em.

In an unprecedented ruling against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, found the Salt Lake City based Church guilty on 13 counts of late campaign reporting. The Mormon Church was fined $5538 in an agreement worked out ending the 19 month long investigation. The Church was the primary backer of California’s Proposition 8, which ended gay marriage in California two years ago.

The Mormon Church initially admitted to spending only $2078 to pass Prop 8. When Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, filed his sworn complaint on November 13, 2008, he said they instantly attacked him.

The Mormon owned Salt Lake City Deseret News reported on November 14, 2008 that Church spokesman Scott Trotter said the allegations are “false” and the complaint — filed by Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate — has “many errors and misstatements.” Trotter said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “has fully complied with the reporting requirements of the California Political Reform Act. Claims that the Church has violated the act and failed to report political expenditures made by the church are false. The church has, in fact, filed four reports with California authorities; these reports are a matter of public record. A further report will be filed on or before its due date, Jan. 30, 2009,” Trotter said.


Don Eaton a spokesman for the Mormon Church said in an interview with KGO-TV (ABC San Francisco) "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints put zero money in this.” Three months later the Mormon Church filed an amended return in which they admitted to spending $190,000. Unfortunately, this was 3 months after the election, so 17 million California voters never were able to know the full extent of the Mormon involvement until well after the election.

The Mormon Church ran phone banks, sent out direct mail, had well designed web sites, produced 27 slick commercials, bussed people in from Utah and had lots of travel expenses by high ranking Church officials. They also raised approximately $30 million from Mormon families to pass Proposition 8.

The Mormon Church also was behind the creation of the infamous National Organization for Marriage (NOM) in 2007, and was the biggest contributor to pass Prop 8.

They've been accused of and fined for what David Axlerod calls "Astroturfing." And seeing how STIFF that penalty is... they're going to be doing it again.

Sunday Comics: Week in Review

Ah, we've finally come to the end of the week.

There was an election. It wasn't definitive, so there's a power grab going on, afterward. And speaking of things going on in Europe...
Looks like the Greek bailout is going to put the entire idea of a European Union into jeopardy. The "I don't want to work" and "give me a check" riots have killed at least 3 people. Insanity and the Welfare State. But don't wag your finger of shame too hard at the E.U. The U.S. has Illinois, California and New York on the the bail out fences as well. California was even considering a complete 'do over' and just giving the state back to the Federal government. Maybe Greece will just be a new part of Germany? ...er, again?
Every time Mr. Obama yells at BP, I know that gas prices are going to go up. Funny that he doesn't understand this?
American-wanna-be-a-Taliban in New York Times Square, luckily, failed. How much involvement or training he actually got is anyone's guess. Again, and luckily, it wasn't much.
And the exposure of exactly how weak the Patriot Act, the NSA, the CIA, the FBI and all the other so-called leaders we have... apparently their best weapon is Luck. That's not good enough to stop the next one, but for now, it's all we got. Oh, and two heroes, one an Immigrant who LOVES his new home who called it in.
See you next week, folks.

States back to Territories?

Is California the next Michigan?

“I looked as hard as I could at how states could declare bankruptcy,” said Michael Genest, director of the California Department of Finance who is stepping down at the end of the year. “I literally looked at the federal constitution to see if there was a way for states to return to territory status.” said Michael Genest, director of the California Department of Finance.

Hey, Mike, why don't you just give the whole damn thing back to Mexico and save a couple steps?

"We're facing a cliff in 2011 when stimulus dollars run out," said Mitchell Bean, director of the Michigan House Fiscal Agency. "There is not an end in sight, even in recovery."

According to the Wall Street Journal, there were no bankruptcy options for the States, and the legislature chose to cut back sharply on education and health care to fill the gap. Mr. Genest already predicts the 2011 shortfall will outpace the projected $7 billion gap. It is a smaller deficit than this year's gap, but the choices will be more difficult because so many cuts have already been made.

Mr. Genest estimated that, eventually, 40% of the state's budget would go to the state Medicaid program, 40% to education, 10% to debt service and 6% to retiree medical services and pension—leaving little left for anything else, such as the state's corrections system. Read crime wave about to be unleashed.

Mr. Bean described a similarly depressing scenario for Michigan, which could end the recession with 25% fewer jobs than in June 2000 and a total of one million job losses. Michigan's unemployment rate in September was 15.3%.

So in other words, get ready for Bail-Out Two: State Side Hubbaloo.

Wimpy CA Notes

I can't get this thought out of my head...
"The State of California will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today"

For anyone who's not following the story, or has money coming to them for work they did for the State... California sent out $3.3 billion in IOU’s. Instead of cash, those who do business with California will get a slip of paper.

Technically, and since the Bank of America is accepting it - along with the paltry amount of interest generated by this 'bond-like' issue of paper - it's legal tender being printed by the Treasury of California. Hey, they're already two steps further along the secession than Texas right now! And speaking of secession - the people of California had better hope that paper being printed is worth more than Jefferson Davis Confederate Notes.

And it seems that the ratings agencies are downgrading the notes to BBB status.

That puts your notes at .85 cents on the dollar.
But, there is a chance you can sell 'em on eBay as a souvenir.

In the meantime, the folks who are paying attention - or at least should be - would be the Democrats in Washington. It seems that the healthcare discussion is hinging on the very openly public fiasco in California. There's a place to point to now. A wagging finger of shame - over spending makes your economy crap out. And your dollar becomes 'worth-less' than what you owe.

Granted, California's orgy of spending and programs to solve all of the voters problems makes Obama's Third Stimulus package (to be fair, the first was George Bush's in April '08) makes DC spenders look armature in comparison. The California deficit this year is now north of $26 billion. The U.S. federal deficit will be, according to the latest numbers, almost 70 times larger.

Wonder if anyone will notice? Will it kill Obama's plans?

Hopefully, the increasing public concern about deficits - heightened by the California crisis, there are two possibilities. Either the Obama plan will come crashing down or Senate Democrats will concoct some bill that has health in the title but costs almost nothing and does even less - which is expected, except for the cost part. With Al Franken arriving in the Senate and providing Democrats with that crucial 60th vote, the latter seems most likely. Let's hope.

Break out the ABBA

He's the Prom Queen!

An openly gay teen has been voted prom queen at his Los Angeles high school in a campaign that began as a stunt but ended up spurring discussion on the campus about gender roles and popularity.

Sergio Garcia said he felt "invincible" when he was crowned queen of the Fairfax High School dance at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Saturday.

Days before the dance, Garcia told fellow students that he was "not your typical prom queen candidate. There's more to me than meets the eye." He's a transformer!

He also promised that he would be wearing a suit on prom night, but "don't be fooled: Deep down, I am a queen." We know Sergio, we know.

And he made good of that promise Saturday, wearing a gray tuxedo topped off with the prized tiara. It clashed. At least he didn't go in drag. God knows someone would have had the same dress on and then Sergio would have had to choke a bitch and... well * whew * thank goodness that didn't happen.

Although many students were supportive of Garcia's run, others were upset and didn't understand why Garcia chose to run for prom queen. No doubt Heather Chandler, Regina George, and Carrie White are pissssed....

"I'm not really happy about that," said 17-year-old Juan Espinoza. "He should've run for prom king."

Juan is obviously a gay basher and needs to be re-educated for his intolerance.

You know who I feel sorry for? The popular girls who got totally dissed. Hey, maybe all those girls can get together with the ACLU and sue in a class action lawsuit against the school and their fellow classmates for gender discrimination?